A Kidnapping Mystery
by Justin Bonesteel
Summary: Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are hired to solve a case by finding a kidnapped squirrel daughter.
1. Lunchtime

In the city of Zootopia, many mammals of shapes, sizes and colors, from a large elephant to a giant bear to a tiny little mouse, are going about their business.

It had been about a month since Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde have discovered that predators have gone savage from night howlers, and learned that the former assistant mayor Bellwether was behind the whole thing. Ever since then, Nick became Judy's partner in the ZPD. Speaking of whom, in one of the city's fast food restaurants, Judy and Nick are sitting together at one of the tables eating hamburgers and fries for lunch.

"Mighty fine day, wouldn't you say, Nick?" Judy asked after eating some of her fries.

"Yep." The fox replied.

"And aren't you also glad there's no crimes or crooks out today? Only trouble so far was when we pulled over a panther who was driving his car too fast. Gives us the rest of to do nothing but eat and drive our cruiser around."

"Yes, it is nice to have peaceful days like this." Nick said. "But of course there have been some troublemakers and thieves we had to catch. These kinds of crimes happen almost every day."

"I'm just saying, it's nice to take a break from our busy job as members of the police department." Judy said. "Our job is full of danger and hard work. We deserve a good break every now and then, and we should take advantage of them when they come."

Right next to their table, a female coyote and her daughter are in line waiting to order their food. When it was their turn, the gorilla clerk asked them, "Hello, how may I take your order?"

"I'd like chicken strips with ketchup and mustard." The coyote mother said.

"And I'd like two cheeseburgers, fries and a vanilla ice cream cone." The daughter said.

"I'm sorry." The clerk said shamefully. "I hate to tell you this, but our ice cream machine is broken, so I can't give you any ice cream right now."

"What?" The daughter asked, feeling a spark of anger. "Please tell me you're joking."

"Don't worry, young lady. How about you have cookies instead?"

"Why?"

"Because, Ellen, the ice cream machine is broken." Ellen's mother said. "Why don't you have cookies instead like the clerk suggested?"

"No way!" Ellen shouted all of a sudden. "I want vanilla ice cream, so give it to me now!" This got the attention of Judy, Nick and the other customers.

"Ellen, stop acting like a spoiled brat." The mother said with a warning tone. "You can either have cookies or you can have nothing at all."

"I have a better idea! How about I lower my pants so you can kiss my butt?!"

"Young lady, enough with that behavior! Now everyone is looking at us!"

"You want to kiss my butt? Well, why didn't you say so?!" She lowers her pants revealing her butt to everyone's shock. "Go ahead, Mom! Kiss my butt! Kiss it right here in the restaurant! Kiss my butt, kiss my butt, kiss my butt!"

"Should we do something?" Judy asked Nick.

"Oh, yes, let's."

They march up to the two coyotes. "Young lady, pull your pants back up!" Nick ordered the daughter.

"No! Not until my mom kisses my butt!"

"No one likes to kiss butts! Now pull your pants back up or you're going to jail!" Judy sternly ordered the coyote girl.

"Thanks, guys, but I got this." The mother told the two cops, prompting them to back away. "Ellen, that's enough! We are going home and you are getting absolutely nothing!" She pulls her daughter's pants back up and drags her out of the restaurant with the girl bawling loudly.

"Well, that could've gone worse." Nick commented, earning a nod from Judy.

Suddenly, a voice came from their walkie-talkies. "Officer Hopps? Officer Wilde?"

"Yes, chief?" Judy talked into her walkie.

"Where are you two?" Their boss, Chief Bogo asked.

"We're in Bob's Burgers eating lunch."

"Well, whenever you're done eating, can come back to the station. There's an emergency meeting."

"Will do."

"We better finish eating quickly because we're needed back at the police station." Nick stated.

With that said, the duo finish eating their food and threw away the wrappings and scraps from their lunch. Then they got into their car and drove to the police station for the emergency meeting.

* * *

 **So here is my very first** _ **Zootopia**_ **story! I decided to start this first story of this series by writing one about Judy and Nick after the events of the film.**

 **Hope you like this, and as always, reviews are welcome! :D**


	2. Meeting

Judy and Nick are driving back to the police station, feeling completely full from their lunch. Judy was especially cheerful in hopes that she and Nick are getting another case to solve.

"I wonder what the situation is that Chief Bogo has for us this time?" Judy asked Nick.

"I don't know, but I'm eager to find out."

Once they arrive at the station, they head to the bullpen of the ZPD headquarters. Chief Bogo was there when they got there.

"So, Hopps and Wilde, how was your day out this morning?" he asked.

"It was fine." Judy answered. "There's barely been any trouble except that we pulled over a panther who was speeding. Then while we were eating at Bob's Burgers, this coyote mother's daughter misbehaved because she didn't get what she wanted and tried her mother to kiss her butt."

Bogo started snorting with laughter and Judy and Nick nervously laughed along. "A coyote wanted her mother to kiss her butt!" Soon, their laughter finally died down.

"What was it she wanted that she didn't get?" Bogo asked.

"Vanilla ice cream." Nick answered

"Oh dear. Now take your seats. The meeting is about to start."

Soon, all the officers of the ZPD were in their seats and paying attention to Bogo. "Now, there's been a new mammal gone missing. An hour ago, a squirrel came into my office saying that her daughter is missing."

 _Earlier_

Chief Bogo was in his private quarters entertaining himself with a Gazelle app when a female squirrel entered.

"Hello ma'am." Bogo greeted the squirrel. "Can I help you with something?"

The squirrel is on the brink of tears and tried to maintain her voice. "Hi. I'm Kathy Nutts. I need help finding my daughter, Betty."

"How long has she been missing?" Bogo asked Kathy.

"She's been missing since sunrise." Kathy answered on the verge of crying. "I've looked all over the city and I couldn't find her."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"I saw her last night when I was putting her to bed. When I got up this morning, she was gone."

"And what was she wearing when you put her to bed?"

"She was wearing a short-sleeved pink dress."

"You got a poster of her?"

She hands him a "missing" poster of her daughter. It read that Betty Nutts was last seen last night at 10:00 PM wearing a pink short-sleeved dress, and if found, contact Kathy Nutts.

Bogo looked at the poster and looked sympathetically at Kathy who by now is bursting into tears.

"Oh, my poor little Betty! Have someone find her, chief! Please! My poor daughter!" she sobbed.

"Not to worry, Mrs. Nutts." Bogo said trying to console Kathy. "I will send my two best officers to find her. I promise."

"Oh, please! Please! I can't live without her!"

 _Present_

"So now it's come down for her to be found and soon." Bogo said.

"This should be another adventurous case like the one involving Mr. Otterton," Judy whispered to Nick.

"Yeah," Nick whispered back.

"Assignments," Bogo announced. "Hopps, Wilde, find Betty Nutts. Take all the time you need." He hands a picture of Betty to the two.

"Thank you, sir." Judy said and she and Nick walked out of the bullpen to begin their assignment.


	3. The Assignment Begins

Judy and Nick walk over Benjamin Clawhauser's desk. "Hey, Clawhauser!" Judy greeted the overweight cheetah. "Guess what? Me and Nick have been given a new case to solve!"

"Nice," Clawhauser said.

"Can we borrow your desk?" Nick asked.

"Uh, sure." Clawhauser gets up from his desk chair and steps aside to let Judy and Nick use it.

Once they were at the computer on the desk, Nick pulled up the case report database screen and typed in 'Betty Nutts' in the search toolbox.

The screen pulled up a status about Betty, showing a picture of her and reading:

Name: Betty Nutts  
Species: Squirrel (Sciuridae)  
Fur color: Gray  
Weight: 1.3 lbs  
Height: 7.1 in.  
Address: 3458 Rat Run Drive  
Little Rodentia, 82412

Judy and Nick looked at a few photos of Betty Nutts and came to a video of Betty's last known sighting. It showed the squirrel walking in the city at night alone.

"Why is she walking in the city alone?" Judy asked. "She's too young to be outside without adult supervision."

"I don't know." Nick replied.

As Betty was walking, a hooded figure wearing a coat stopped in front of the young squirrel and was doing or saying something that Nick and Judy couldn't tell what it was doing. A moment later, the figure was walking away with Betty beside it.

"Why is she going with that person?" Judy asked. "She should wait until she trusts that person to go with him or her."

"We don't know yet." Nick replied. "But I did happen to notice that those two were in front of the Grand Pangolin Apartments. We should check there first."

They got up from the computer to headed for the main entrance to the police station.

"Good luck, you two!" Clawhauser said to them.

"Thanks." Judy answered.

* * *

Once they were out of the building, they saw a familiar mammal placing "missing" posters all over the city.

"I think that's Kathy Nutts." Nick commented.

"I agree." Judy said. "We should ask her about her daughter."

They walked up to Kathy and just when they were about to say something to her, she noticed them and said, "Excuse me. Hello. Have you seen my daughter?"

"No." Judy answered. "But our chief hired us to find her."

"Oh, thank goodness."

"When was the last time you saw your daughter?" Nick asked.

"Last night when I was putting her to bed. When I got up and called her to breakfast this morning, she was gone."

"We're sorry to hear that. But don't worry, Mrs. Nutts. We'll find your daughter."

"Well, I hope you do, and soon."

"We will." Judy answered and she and Nick headed to their cruiser and headed for the Grand Pangolin Apartments.

When they got there, they parked the cruiser. Once they were in front of the building, Nick got down on all fours and sniffed around the sidewalk in an attempt to track down whoever kidnapped Betty Nutts. He finally stopped when he gets a scent of the kidnapper.

"The kidnapper who kidnapped Betty Nutts is a warthog. He hides out in an abandoned building in Savanna Central."

"Excuse me," a male voice said. "Are you looking for something?" Nick turned to his right and saw a wolf standing there.

"Oh, yes." Nick replied. "I'm tracking down a kidnapped squirrel. She was kidnapped in front of here."

"I saw the squirrel kidnapped last night while I was at my window. I couldn't tell what the kidnapper looked like though."

"Uh, the kidnapper is a warthog." Nick said.

"Oh. Well, I saw the kidnapper go down that way." The wolf pointed to the right side of where he is standing.

"Well, thank you, sir." Nick thanked the wolf. "Me and Judy are headed in the direction."

"Good luck finding the squirrel, you two."

With that, Judy and Nick got back into their cruiser and headed for Savanna Central.


	4. Beer for My Horses

While Judy and Nick are driving to Savanna Central, Nick saw something on the sidewalk.

"Wait, stop the car," he said to Judy, who did what she was told. "I saw something on the sidewalk." He gets out of the car, goes over to the object and picks it up. It's a teddy bear.

"Hey, Carrots, come check this out," Nick called to Judy. She gets out of the car and goes over to Nick. He shows her the teddy bear. "Look at this. No doubt it belongs to the child we seek."

"If Betty has a backpack or any other kind of pack, I knew something that belongs to her would fall out be left behind." Judy said as she examined the teddy bear.

"We should take this with us and if it belongs to Betty, we'll give it back to her when we find her." Nick said.

"I agree."

They head back to their car with the teddy bear and continue going onward to Savanna Central.

"Since we got all day to find the abandoned building in Savanna Central that the warthog who kidnapped Betty hides out in, let's see what's on the radio." Nick said.

"Great idea. But we should keep it at a low volume so we can hear our other radios too." Judy said. She turns on the radio and music plays.

"Ooh! I know this song!" Judy exclaimed as she recognized what is playing on the radio and got in the mood of singing.

 _Well a man come on the 6 o'clock news  
Said somebody's been shot, somebody's been abused  
Somebody blew up a building  
Somebody stole a car  
Somebody got away  
Somebody didn't get too far, yeah  
They didn't get too far_

Nick also knew the song and started singing as well.

 _Grandpappy told my pappy, back in my day, son  
A man had to answer for the wicked that he done  
Take all the rope in Texas  
Find a tall oak tree, round up all of them bad boys  
Hang them high in the street for all the people to see_

 _[Both]_

 _Justice is the one thing you should always find  
You got to saddle up your boys  
You got to draw a hard line  
When the gun smoke settles, we'll sing a victory tune  
And we'll all head back at the local saloon  
We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces  
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses_

 _[Judy]_

 _We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds_

 _[Nick]_

 _We've got too much corruption, too much crime in the streets_

 _[Judy]_

 _It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground_

 _[Nick]_

 _Send 'em all to their maker and he'll settle 'em down_

 _[Judy]_

 _You can bet he'll set 'em down_

 _[Both]_

 _'Cause justice is the one thing you should always find  
You got to saddle up your boys  
You got to draw a hard line  
When the gun smoke settles, we'll sing a victory tune  
And we'll all head back at the local saloon  
We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces  
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses  
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses_

 _You know, justice is the one thing you should always find  
You got to saddle up your boys  
You got to draw a hard line  
When the gun smoke settles, we'll sing a victory tune  
And we'll all head back at the local saloon  
We'll raise up our glasses against evil forces  
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses  
Singing whiskey for my men, beer for my horses_

* * *

 **The song sung by Judy and Nick is "Beer for My Horses" by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson, which is a detective-related song.**

 **The next chapter is where Judy and Nick will find Betty Nutts, so stay tuned.**


	5. Finding Betty

By evening, Judy and Nick are still searching for the building that the warthog who kidnapped Betty Nutts hides out in.

As they were riding in their cruiser, Nick saw something and said to Judy, "Stop the car." She did what she was told. "I see footprints."

"I do too." Judy said. They get out of the cruiser and go over to the footprints left on the ground.

"These footprints must belong to the same warthog who kidnapped Betty Nutts." He gets down on the ground, sniffs at the footprints and senses that they do indeed belong to the warthog who kidnapped Betty.

Judy takes out her phone and takes a picture of the footprints with it and where the footprints lead. They lead past several trees and buildings. "We better follow them and see where they lead."

They follow the footprints. A few minutes later, the footprints lead to an abandoned building, which is an old house with a few broken parts. Judy takes a picture of the building with her phone.

"I think Betty Nutts might be in there." Nick commented.

Judy nodded and said, "We better investigate."

As they headed towards the house, Nick whispered to Judy, "Now when we get in there, be very careful because he might have Betty tied and gagged. If someone comes to rescue Betty, he might be ready to ambush that someone."

Judy nodded in agreement and they slowly opened the door. They crept slowly and quietly as they looked inside the house. Everything is covered in dust, ceilings were broken and there were bits of old furniture.

"Looks like this house has been abandoned for years." Judy whispered.

Suddenly, they heard muffled cries coming from somewhere. They heard them coming from a room. They peeked inside the room and saw a familiar squirrel on an old bed with her hands and feet tied to the bedposts and a white handkerchief wrapped around her mouth. They looked around to make sure the warthog wasn't around.

Betty's squeals were muffled as she struggled with her binds and tried to break free to no avail.

"Shh!" Judy said to Betty. We'll have you untied in a jiffy." They untied the ropes from her hands and feet and removed the handkerchief from her mouth.

"Oh, thank goodness you two are here." Betty said.

"Are you Betty Nutts?" Nick asked her.

"Yes, I am."

"We are from the police department. I'm Judy Hopps and this is my partner, Nick Wilde. Our chief hired us to rescue you."

"When we watched a video of your last known sighting," Nick said. "You were walking in the city alone last night. Why were you?"

"Well, I had a fight with my mother." Betty started. "She said my father was killed and eaten by a savage wolf when I was three and she didn't want the same thing to happen to me. So she kept me in her house from then on to keep me safe. Never lets me go outside. Last night, I told her that I'm turning seven in a couple days and I want to go out for my next birthday. But she told me that she is never letting me leave the house as long as I live, so then we got into a heated argument with me telling her that I can handle myself and but she kept telling me that I'm not leaving the house, ever. So, that night, I ran away so I won't have to deal with her being so overprotective anymore."

Judy and Nick listened to everything Betty said with concern and sympathy. They felt tears brimming in their eyes and briefly cried, touched by Betty's story.

"But then, while I was walking in the city, I came across this warthog. He introduced me to his name, War T. Hog. I told him that I ran away from home to get away from my overprotective mother, and he told me I can stay with him. At first, I was happy, but then by this afternoon, I felt homesick and tried to escape a few times, but he caught me each and every time. Finally, he tied me to this bed and gagged me to prevent me from escaping and to prevent me from calling for help."

"You shouldn't have decided to go with that warthog." Nick told Betty. "You shouldn't trust someone until you earn that person's trust."

"I know." Betty said. "But you know, I'm glad you found me. I want to go home. I miss my mom."

"And your mom misses you too." Judy said. "But don't worry. We'll have you home soon after Nick and I catch and arrest that criminal."

"Oh, thank you both so much!" Betty said and embraced Judy, who is only too happy to return the gesture.


	6. Case Solved

Judy remembered picking up the teddy bear that she and Nick found on their way to the abandoned old house in Savanna Central. "Hey, Betty, I think you might've dropped this." she said as she handed Betty the teddy bear.

"Thank you!" Betty said as she hugged her teddy bear. "I was wondering what happened to it. I must've dropped it without noticing."

"Now all we have to do is catch and arrest that warthog and return Betty to her mother, then our mission will be completed." Nick said to Judy.

Judy nodded and added, "When he returns here, we'll be ready for him."

Speaking of whom, Nick happened to see War T. Hog outside the window coming up towards the house. "Here he comes."

Judy, Nick and Betty hide behind an old couch as they watch War enter the house. He heads to the room Betty was tied up in. When he sees the bed empty, he gasps, then snorts angrily and vows to find Betty and bring her back.

Once he returns to the living room, he smells something. "I smell something." he said. He walks into the living room to find where the smell is coming from. He could hear the sound of tiny feet.

He goes over to the couch and sees a tail sticking out from behind it. "There you are!" he shouted. Betty came out of her hiding place.

"How could you escape?!"

"This rabbit and fox police officer came and rescued me." Betty said bravely. "They're here to arrest you and put you in jail where you and other criminals belong. You'll never catch me again!"

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that!" War said as he held out a bag to recapture Betty with. Nick stood in front of Betty protectively, pulled out his gun and pointed it at War.

"Freeze!" he shouted. War dropped the bag he was holding and held up his hands. About 30 seconds later, he sees Betty trying to sneak away, snorts and squeals like a mad pig would and charges at her. Just when he was about to ram into Nick, Judy grabs a tazer and fires it at War, electrocuting him and knocking him out.

"Wow!" Nick said to Judy. "Didn't know you had a tazer with you."

"Of course I do." Judy replied. "This tazer can be really useful. It can knock you out for half an hour, which is 30 minutes."

"Cool. Well, I'll cuff him and you tell the chief we found Betty."

Judy nodded, and while Nick puts handcuffs on War, she pulled out her walkie and contacted Chief Bogo, "Hello, Chief Bogo?"

"Hey, Hopps," Bogo said over the walkie. "How are you Nick and doing?"

"We found Betty Nutts. She was kidnapped by a warthog named War T. Hog. He hides out in an old abandoned house in Savanna Central. We found it with War's footprints. I knocked him out with my tazer."

"Excellent! We're on our way right now! We're bringing Kathy Nutts with us so she can see her daughter again. Thank you for telling us."

"You're welcome." She turned towards Nick. "Now all we have to do is wait for the authorities to arrive and arrest War."

"Don't worry, kid." Nick told Betty. "We'll have you back with your mother in no time."

"Bless you two. I miss her so much."

About 5 minutes later, the ZPD arrive in front of the house. They run inside, pick up the still unconscious War T. Hog and take him outside to one of the police cars.

Once Judy, Nick and Betty stepped outside, Betty's eyes widened as she saw a familiar squirrel standing in front of the police cars' blaring lights and started running towards her at the sight of her.

"Mom!" Betty exclaimed, running over to her mother as she rushed to her, the two meeting in front of the old house.

"Betty!" Kathy shouted as she pulled her daughter in for a tight hug. Betty followed suit by embracing her mother. "Oh, thank goodness. I've been worried sick."

"I'm sorry, mom." Betty said as tears started to well up in her eyes. Judy and Nick watch the reunion and are trying their best not to cry.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry." Kathy said as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

Betty looked at her mother as tears streamed from her eyes and she began to cry openly.

"I'm sorry for being so overprotective." Kathy said as she gently stroked Betty's fur. "I was wrong about you, and I promise to let you go out every once in a while."

"You really mean it?" Betty asked.

"Yes," Kathy replied with a small smile. The mother and daughter share a tight hug with Betty feeling love from her mother for the first time in awhile."

The ZPD officers watched the reunion between the two squirrels and were touched by this. When Betty and Kathy pulled away, Kathy said to Judy and Nick, "Thank you both for finding my daughter. You have my thanks."

"You're very welcome, Mrs. Nutts." Judy said.

Then Kathy turned her attention back to Betty. "Well, I think that's enough excitement for tonight. Let's go home." She offers her hand, which Betty takes and one of the officers takes them in his car to take them to their home.

* * *

Later that night, Judy's shift ended and she went home to the Grand Pangolin Apartments. As she heated her dinner in the microwave, her phone rang. "Hey, mom and dad." she answered. "Hey, Judy!" her mom said on the phone. "How was your day today?"

"It was great. I solved the case of a missing squirrel daughter. She was kidnapped by a warthog."

"Well, me and your father are glad you solved the case. Just thought we'd give you a call."

"Nice talking to you. I'll talk to later. Bye." She ended her call and turned on her TV while eating her dinner. Later, Judy settled down, got into bed and slept soundly now that her case with Nick is successful.

 **THE END**


End file.
